You’ve just spent the entire holiday season shopping, sending cards and gifts, hosting and entertaining everyone else. Now that a new year has arrived, isn’t it time to nurture yourself? Here are a few tips on where to start.

Tune out!
Disconnect from everything, even if it’s only for an hour. Switch off your phone. Step away from your laptop. Turn off the tv. Ignore the doorbell. Gaze out the window. Play an instrument. Paint. Knit. Doodle. Write in a journal. Stretch. Breathe. Find your favorite spot away from it all, and simply be. Whatever you do with that time, make it about you.

The Magic of Ommmmmm…….
Find a way to make meditation a part of every day, even if it’s just for five minutes to start. If your first reaction is, “But I’m too busy,” Pashon Murray, co-founder of the compost company Detroit Dirt and her educational nonprofit, The Detroit Dirt Foundation, is inspiring. She says her mind is constantly occupied with her business and her nonprofit. But, she adds, “I’m in constant meditation when I’m free.” To jump-start your own meditation practice, it may help to set a reminder in your phone…or look for a great meditation app.

Send up a little SOS
Look to your community for support when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Meg Eubank of Welcoming the Stranger says, “My job requires me to wear many hats…so the biggest help to me is when a volunteer takes something off my plate! Our volunteers are the lifeblood of our organization; we would not be able to do our work without them!”

Get it together…and get together!
Reconnect! With friends, with family, with your significant other. Agree upon an activity or just a time to get together and put it on the calendar. Once you commit, you’re half-way there!

Be kind to you!
Do unto yourself as you do for others. In other words, simply pay attention to how you treat yourself. Cara Belvin of empowerHER is looking forward to 2018. “I plan to treat myself the way I treat others. I respect other people’s values and ways and empathize with them, so why not do that towards myself?” And when we are just as kind to ourselves as we are to others, the net effect is more happiness and more energy to be our best selves.

Catch those Zs!
Get plenty of sleep! Blogger Erin Fairchild of herheartlandsoul.com says, “Getting enough sleep is something I’m always working on. Something I do to sleep well, even when I’m not sleeping enough, is to not allow any electronics or lights in the bedroom. It helps me get uninterrupted, quality sleep.”